How do you log breaks between sets during weight lifting?

LifeNewandImproved
LifeNewandImproved Posts: 125 Member
edited November 15 in Fitness and Exercise
More specifically - On days I do Strong Lifts 5x5, I do 5 sets of 5 reps of an exercise, with a 1.5-5 min break between sets. So I may be working out for 45 min but I may be only physically lifting a fraction of that time (say 15 min out of 45 minutes.) So do you put in 45 min or 15 min as weight lifting? It's a mild calorie difference and no I don't think it's making or breaking my calorie goals but humor me anyway.

Replies

  • Walter__
    Walter__ Posts: 518 Member
    Stop overthinking it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I've never bothered taking things that far...I just go workout.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    walterc7 wrote: »
    Stop overthinking it.

  • gamesandgains
    gamesandgains Posts: 640 Member
    Agreed with the other comments. Track your food, and if you must, your cardio. You're over complicating this.
  • LifeNewandImproved
    LifeNewandImproved Posts: 125 Member
    Okay - when you're only having 1200 calories per day before exercise calories, that extra 100 calories would be nice. Again I REPEAT - Humor Me Anyway.... 3 responses and still no one answering my question.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    edited March 2015
    They did. It doesn't really matter that much.

    Rest as long as you need to in order to feel prepared for the next set.

    As for the "caloric burn" portion... again echoing majoring in the minors.
  • itsthehumidity
    itsthehumidity Posts: 351 Member
    Five minutes is a solid rest time between sets that are hard. So, when you're done with a set, look at the clock. Five minutes after that, do another set. That is the maximum amount of complicated it should ever be, and most people don't get advanced enough for rest periods to matter much.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    AceofIvies wrote: »
    Okay - when you're only having 1200 calories per day before exercise calories, that extra 100 calories would be nice. Again I REPEAT - Humor Me Anyway.... 3 responses and still no one answering my question.

    This is why most people who really lift use the TDEE method...it's really hard to determine calorie burn from lifting, even if you're just counting the amount of time you're lifting...there are like a gazillion variables involved beyond just time. It's not a simple equation like running X miles is.

    Beyond that, you'd just have to play with the numbers and watch the trends. The problem with answering your question is that there really isn't a direct answer to your question.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    AceofIvies wrote: »
    Okay - when you're only having 1200 calories per day before exercise calories, that extra 100 calories would be nice. Again I REPEAT - Humor Me Anyway.... 3 responses and still no one answering my question.

    Eat the 100 cals.... If your weight loss is too slow, stop eating the 100 cals
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
    AceofIvies wrote: »
    Okay - when you're only having 1200 calories per day before exercise calories, that extra 100 calories would be nice. Again I REPEAT - Humor Me Anyway.... 3 responses and still no one answering my question.
    Use the TDEE method and don't track/eat back exercise calories

    Then rest as long as you want in between.


  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,009 Member
    LolBroScience wrote: »
    They did. It doesn't really matter that much.

    Rest as long as you need to in order to feel prepared for the next set.

    As for the "caloric burn" portion... again echoing majoring in the minors.

    ^^^This...

  • DawnEmbers
    DawnEmbers Posts: 2,451 Member
    *shrugs*

    I just log it as 30 minutes each time under "cardio" part on here even though I lift for an hour or more. May some day switch to TDEE instead, haven't made up my mind on it yet.
  • ddoerr57
    ddoerr57 Posts: 27 Member
    Visit http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/calorie_calculator.htm. That may help.
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
    Personally I don't eat back much if any of my calories burned by exercise. Thus, so I can see how long I did, I log the strength training under the cardio section. I log how long I actually lifted for. Again, that's personally.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
    extremelygrumpycat wrote: »
    Personally I don't eat back much if any of my calories burned by exercise. Thus, so I can see how long I did, I log the strength training under the cardio section. I log how long I actually lifted for. Again, that's personally.
    Hopefully you're hitting NET at your calorie goal...
  • LifeNewandImproved
    LifeNewandImproved Posts: 125 Member
    I try to eat back the majority of my exercise calories, with the goal of being 100-200 in the green at the end of the day as a buffer, not always successful though. Lifting days and resting days make that pretty tough though. Statistically I maintain at 1800ish while sedentary so it's not a huge deficit. Probably have to lose 20 lbs still, just lifting to maintain LBM during that time.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I usually do 3 set of an exercise or a combination of exercises and rest 1 to 2 minutes between each set. After the three sets I like to get to the next exercise and start within a couple minutes. Much of that is driven by trying to complete all my sets of exercises in a 30 minute window though more than any continuous or additional caloric burn factor.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    If you log weightlifting in the aerobic section of MFP, normal pauses are already taken into account -- that's why the logged burn is so low
  • qwikstreet
    qwikstreet Posts: 94 Member
    I will log only 30-40% of my time lifting as actual exercise in mapmyfitness. I go near 40% if I'm doing other activities throughout the day that I won't log like moderate chores or playing with the kids outside etc.
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